A celebration of culture as a sourcebook for steampunks- a collection of costumery, tutorials, history, whimsy, and recipes to put a little global flair into your steampunk.
In the future I hope to cover local festivals, spotlight steampunks who are getting in on the multi-cultural act, and have fellow steampunks post on the arts that they make and love.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

BB: Mayan Cuisine: Recipes From the Yucatan Region by David Hoyer

Fresh and straight-forward: what you can expect inside Mayan Cuisine.

Once upon a time there were some people called the Maya. Between 2000 B.C.E. and 900 C.E. they built a host of wondrous cities, pyramids, and temples, only to go into decline and eventual elimination at the hands of the conquistadors in the 16th century.

.... except, that wasn't the end of the story. When most people think about the Maya, they only consider those human-sacrificing, doomsday-prophesying, pyramid-building astrologers who left scores of ruins in the Mexican forests. However Maya culture (particularly their language) has lived on for centuries in rural parts of Mexico and Guatamala. In fact many of the people guarding the archaeological sites of Maya cities such as Copan and Palenque are often descendants of the ones who built them.

Maya cooking is a similar story to that of Mexican cooking: a mix of seemingly opposing cuisines (Spanish, Carribbean, French, American, and Maya) blending together with the backbone of local ingredients. In Mayan Cuisine: Recipes From the Yucatan Region by Daniel Hoyer, this relationship of traditional tribal fare and foreign influences is explored in a bevy of dishes that serve as much as cultural record as much as palate pleasers. As much as Maya cuisine is a fusion-based one, there are many dishes that would have been recognizable to the natives of centuries ago- such as Atole and Pinole (corn-based beverages) and Kol (a traditional gravy-like sauce served atop tamales). However, there are also contemporary dishes that reflect the 19th and 20th century influxes of people from Germany to Lebanon.

Yum Kaaz, the ancient Maya god of corn.

New to Mexican AND Maya cooking? Don't worry, Hoyer includes an appendix at the front of the book with the instructions on various cooking techniques. On top of this, all of the recipes start at a basic level- then add. There's an entire section on how to make a basic tamale first before Hoyer launches into a collection of regional variations. Furthermore through Hoyer's procedures and the natural simplicity of this regional cuisine, you really feel like you CAN cook these recipes.

If you're at all interested in exploring Maya culture, Yucatan cookery, or just looking for something interesting to serve at your next steampunk gathering, I would highly recommend this book- particularly for the summer months. Still on the fence? You're in luck! Next month, the Steamer's Trunk will be trying out Hoyer's recipe for flan- which I thought would be a great idea for Valentines day (share you flan with someone special or DELIGHT IN NOT HAVING TO, MWAHA!).

Totally awesome! As a Mexican girl who is also Mesoamerican archaeologist I must correct you on a single thing though: The words "mayan"/"mayas"/"mayans" are all incorrect, always use just the singular "Maya" otherwise you risk getting tackles by much angrier Mesoamerican archaeologists and anthropologists than I. Its a lot like the english word "moose" if that makes any sense... lol :D

Let me explain, I'm a Steampunk in the Republic of Texas, who lived and traveled for many years in the Mexican Mayan lowlands. I love the Maya (classic) culture and their Mayan descendants, read many books by Poe and Schele (the epigrapher).

Once I found a Korean artist's illustration (I still don't know if he meant it to be Maya-inspired at all -you be the judge at his CG Society page), and that very much reminds me of a sort of clockpunk mythology (given their obsession with time and cycles), and I've introduced the concept of Mayan Clockpunk in Brassgoggles.co.uk and in Steampunk Mexico (the first Mexican Steampunk forum)!

For the original artist concept at CG Society:"The Goddess of Ticktockhttp://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=225601

About Me

is a petulant child of 23 and fascinated with cultures and their traditional dress. She can often be found frantically trying to sew, read, and drink tea at the same time. Aside from ornate costumes, she's also famous for her scones, which she offers up copiously. If curious about Miss Kagashi's visual work, her deviantart is at: http://forfaxia.deviantart.com.
Learn more about the woman behind the blog at: http://jhellum.tumblr.com/bio

Share with me!

Do you have a steampunk costume in which you've integrated multi-cultural garments? Drop the crow-lady an email with a photo and what inspired you to make/wear it and you could be a future "Featured Traveler".

Do you have a recipe or tutorial for an ethnic craft you don't mind sharing? Again, send an email with an overview or recipe- Miss Kagashi loves to learn (and eat) new things. No doubt others will too.